I Too Was A Child
Giggling while looking at a small kitten, 4 years old Sonu was calling him Billu.
Sonu wanted to be friends with Billu, but Billu was not willing to oblige. Unlike dogs, cats are less domestic beings. Even if they are domestic, unlike dogs, cats are not too emotional about their human owner — good choice you see. We refer people who are not having good lives as living like a dog, thanks to less domesticated nature of cats there would have been a similar phrase for the cats as well.
Billu went away after a while, leaving Sonu in a state of disappointment.
In evening Sonu’s mother, Kanti returned home, with an old pair of shoes discarded by the family, where she was working as a domestic help. Seeing her mother returned with the old pair of Shoe, Sonu just forgot about Billu and jumped on the shoes right away. First wearing them on his hands first, before wearing them in their right place.
Kanti, happy to see exited Sonu was wondering, how her master’s family can give away such a lovely pairs of shoes which were just a few months old, especially when they were so mean about her wages. They would deduct half day’s wage even if she was late by 15 minutes. Anyway, she found solace in the fact that Sonu was happy with his new possession. She always feels guilty about not being able to spend enough time with Sonu as she works as house help from 8 o’clock in the morning to 8 in the evening, leaving Sonu in hands of an old lady in her slums, who looks after Sonu and some other kids in the slums for Rs 700 a month per child. The women is nasty as the children in her care have repeated time and again but for Kanti, there is no choice.
Her husband a Rikshaw puller was killed in a drunken brawl when Sonu was just 11 months old. She was devastated. Thankfully for her, Sonu was the ray of hope. She would have perhaps killed herself if Sonu was not around.
Sonu is 4 years old now, and is coming up like a good boy. He was showing a keen interest in studies as told by a teacher from NGO who visits their slums. Kanti was full of pride and have started to think about sending him to regular school next year. She, like any other mother was looking for a bright future for her child and a hope that someday in future when Sonu gets a good job after completing his studies, will take care of her in old age. In fact, not just Sonu, she has already imagined Sonu’s wife and their children, who would be living together in a nice 1 bedroom flat in Virar a far-off suburb in Mumbai. Sonu will work, his wife would take care of Kanti, while she plays with her grandchildren who will keep on calling her Dadi.
13 Years later, Sonu is in news all over and Kanti’s has tried to kill herself.
He and 3 of his friends were accused of raping and brutally killing a 21-year-old girl. All sorts of media even business media and an army of armchair social activists on Facebook and Whatsapp are demanding instant capital punishment for Vijju and his friends. Not just capital punishment but some sort of Game of Thrones variety torturous death in public.
What happened in 13 years that a sweet little Sonu who wanted to be friends with a kitten and was overjoyed with an old pair of shoes ended up being accused of such a heinous crime!
Is it what he did or what happened to him? Is he a sex manic or is deeply sick? Is it him alone or this is a question mark on the society? Is it about the Judgement or it is about the truth?
May be we will find out someday, till that time I’ll also join the bandwagon of candle marchers asking for capital punishment for Sonu. After all, why do I care for truth if I can get the conclusion fast!
